Imagine sailing on a lake on the moon of Titan in a nuclear powered sailing craft with Saturn rising high in the sky above you. There is wind and rain,  but its a chilly -180 Celsius where Ethane and Methane flow instead of liquid water in world which has been described as an eerie version of Earth.

Such is the proposal by a number of researchers seeking funding for a future NASA-ESA joint mission to Saturn and Titan.  The idea is to have an orbiter which releases a balloon into Titans atmosphere and drops a probe onto one of the many lakes in the northern hemisphere where it will search for organic compounds in the lakes.

It may seem ambitious, but these are the sort of missions that, if funded, will provide the inspiration for future generations of scientists. The pictures alone should be inspiring.

Artists impression - Credit Nasa